By Leaura da Mota | Fundraising Coordinator and Project Leader
Second Harvest is now over halfway through the fiscal year and are excited to provide an update about what we’ve accomplished so far and what we’re looking forward to in the months ahead. Between September 2023 - February 2024, Second Harvest rescued 41.03 million lbs. of food. In doing so, we averted 135 million lbs. of harmful greenhouse gases, equivalent to removing 18,670 cars from the road for a year!
But there’s still so much ahead of us. In December 2023, Second Harvest surveyed more than 1,400 non-profit organizations with charitable food programs across Canada and asked them to predict the demand for their services in 2024. What we found is that these critical frontline organizations are expecting to see more than 1 million new people in need of food this year, and many are struggling to keep up. Troublingly, we also found that more than one-third of food charities are forced to turn people away because they’ve run out of capacity, money or food, instead adding their names to growing waitlists.
The findings from this survey make it clear why our work is important. Rescuing food is the right thing to do — to nourish our communities and protect the planet we call home — and your dedication to creating positive changes will continue to drive and inspire us.
Second Harvest's food rescue is vital to the work that our community partners carry out. Since 2012, Rosemarie Legault has been a client and a volunteer at Parkdale Community Food Bank, a non-profit partner in Second Harvest’s network in the GTA. Together with other volunteer leads, Rosemarie oversees a team of 200 members. You can often find her at the food bank, dashing in and out, making sure the food is properly stored and the warehouse is clean and organized. Her infectious energy and crisp laugh keep the team in good spirits and the clients at ease.
What drives her every day is “seeing the smiles on people's faces when they can come here and get healthy stuff that they can't afford anywhere else.” These days, the food bank serves about 600 people a day, including seniors, students, and more recently, those who need a little extra to tide them over before the next paycheck. In 2016, Rosemarie received the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers from the Governor General. It’s one of her proudest and most memorable achievements. “I like giving back to the community,” she said.
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